When India posted a seemingly imposing total of 336/6 on the back of KL Rahul’s century and Rishabh Pant’s 77-run rampage, one would have thought that the second ODI in Pune would be a close contest. Instead, it was a walk in the park for England as the visitors won the match with 6.3 overs and six wickets to spare.
Jonny Bairstow slammed a 112-ball 124 as the visitors enjoyed another good opening-wicket partnership, but it was Ben Stokes’ brutal assault on the Indian spinners that ensured England didn’t slip up from a winning position for the second time in the series.
Stokes, coming in at No.3 after Jason Roy was run out for 55, took on the Indian bowlers – smashing 99 off just 52 deliveries.
The all-rounder hit 10 sixes and 4 fours before getting out off a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery in the 36th over.
Prasidh Krishna dismissed Bairstow and Jos Buttler in the very next over, giving the hosts some hopes of an unlikely comeback. But by then the required rate was below 4 runs an over and debutant Liam Livingstone along with Dawid Malan ensured that no more damage was done to the visitors.
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